In the post-mix beverage dispensing industry, most beverages are served with a form of ice. Ice can be scooped out of a bin and placed into a cup before the beverage is added. However, ice dispensers are frequently used to add ice to the cup when a large number of beverage servings are routinely needed. Most ice dispensers on the market use an interior ice bin that may be manually or automatically filled. Ice in the ice bin is then picked up by a rotating paddlewheel having ice engagement members, passed over an opening, and dispensed through a chute into a cup. The bin will generally include an agitator for breaking up the ice. An electric motor is used to drive a gear assembly and drive shaft that extends into the bin, onto which shaft the paddlewheel and agitator are attached. Beverage dispenser manufacturers have integrated ice dispensers into beverage dispensers.
Heretofore, removal of the drive gear and motor for repair or replacement has been difficult. Currently, service personnel must access the ice bin to remove the ice agitation motor. This removal is difficult because the drive shaft is attached to the paddlewheel and agitator, often using a pin, in a location that requires access to the ice storage bin. Any ice in the storage bin must be removed in order to disconnect the pin, allowing the drive shaft to be disconnected from the paddlewheel. Removal of the motor becomes even more time consuming if an ice making machine, automatically supplying ice, is mounted over the ice storage bin. The icemaker must then be moved or removed to access the storage bin to disconnect the pin. The result can be an increase in the cost of a service call to fix or replace an ice dispenser agitation motor. Accordingly, it would be desirable to connect a drive mechanism to a paddlewheel of an ice dispenser so that the drive shaft can be disengaged from the paddlewheel in order to be able to remove the drive mechanism from the ice dispenser without accessing the ice storage bin.